How stupid could the gerents be?

Oh wait, he’d known many of them most of his life. That single question in and of itself was moronic.

See what happens when you hang out with them? They suck out your IQ and leave you stupid, too. Yeah, Giran alone could reduce his intelligence by thirty points in under two minutes.

“My lord?”

Lowering the cloth to hide how saturated it was in blood, Darling glanced over to the door of his office where Gera stood, fretting in the doorway.

He forced the irritation out of his voice and smiled at her. “Yes, Dame. What can I do for you?”

She hesitated before she entered the room. “I’m not sure if I should be mentioning this, but do you know where her ladyship is?”

Gods, what had the bitch done now? Did he even want to know? “My mother’s at—”

“Not the dowager, my lord,” Gera said, cutting him off. “Lady Starska.”

It took Darling a second to realize who Gera was talking about. How could he have forgotten Zarya’s title?

Because he didn’t think of her that way. She was much more intimate to him than her title made it sound. But then Gera was nothing if not formal.

Darling wiped at his nose to make sure it wasn’t bleeding anymore. “She said she wasn’t feeling well, and went to her room.”

Gera swallowed audibly. “She told me the same, but when I went to her room to check on her, she wasn’t there.”

That wasn’t unusual. Zarya didn’t like being alone. He suspected it was from the same kind of ghosts that haunted him—old memories that refused to let him rest. “She’s probably with Lord Maris.”

“I already asked him, Majesty, and he hasn’t seen her either.”

Okay, that concerned him. Zarya very seldom ventured away from both of them. “Did you check with her sister?”

“Yes, Majesty. Lady Sorche said that the last time she spoke to her was at dinner last night.”

His throat went dry as he noticed Gera nervously clutching something in her left palm. “What’s in your hand?”

Biting her lip, she approached him slowly. “I went to her room to see if maybe she was in her bathing chambers. While there, I started picking up a few things she had scattered about and…”

She placed her hand on his desk. “I found this in a drawer.”

Don’t panic.

It was hard not to. And when Gera pulled her hand back and he saw Zarya’s engagement ring, he felt like someone had kicked his stones straight into his throat.

Don’t jump to any conclusions.

“She must have forgotten to put it back on after her bath this morning.”

Yeah, that must be it. Zarya didn’t forget her ring often. Just every now and again. It did happen. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Just a forgetful one.

“Perhaps… but still I’m worried about her, Majesty. Given all the madness that’s going on… you don’t think someone’s kidnapped her, do you?”